The First Massachusetts Medical Marijuana Dispensary Hopes to Open This Spring

By
Nick DeLuca, BostInno
on January 6, 2015

Alternative Therapies Group, the first medical marijuana dispensary to be awarded licensure by the state, hopes to open its doors sometime in the spring of 2015.

The Department of Public Health handed down the license on Wednesday, December 31, to ATG which will be located in Salem, Mass. with a cultivation facility in Amesbury, Mass.

According to a note posted on ATG’s website, the dispensary “will begin cultivating cannabis immediately and hope to be in a position to start dispensary operations by Spring 2015.”

MassDPH confirmed with BostInno that a timeline for ATG to open its doors is contingent on their own growth practices and subsequent inspections. But after conferring with the other 14 potential dispensaries, MassDPH estimates “it will take 2-4 months after certification to open their doors.”

Inspections will include a review of dispensaries’ floor plans, security, and cultivation operations to ensure product safety and quality; security, storage and transportation standards; and responsiveness to patient needs.